Disenchanted
Disenchanted is a Darkest Powers short story that was published in The Complete Darkest Powers Tales. The events of which overlap with others in the novel The Awakening. It tells the story of how Simon Bae and Tori Enright continue their journey after Chloe Saunders and Derek Souza are left behind at the truck stop, as well as giving greater background on Tori's character and her reasons for disliking and distrusting Chloe during The Summoning. It is the first short story to be narrated by Tori although it is briefly, and according to Tori inaccurately narrated by Simon. Synopsis: It opens with Simon's version of events when they realise Derek and Chloe are not on the bus. Simon is having a dream where he was the one to help Chloe when she accidentally raised a zombie in her sleep, just when they are about to kiss Tori loudly wakes Simon up. They've reached their stop and Simon notices that Derek and Chloe aren't on the bus. Tori assumes that they've already gotten off, while being more concerned with fixing her hair and verbally berating another passenger who tries to get off the bus before her. Simon goes to look for them while Tori tries to get in the bathroom, hoping that Derek can break the lock for her. The bus leaves with Tori being primarily concerned with washing up. Tori takes over the narration, stating that Simon wrote it for 'the comic he's making with Chloe' and that it makes her seem like a twit. Retelling the opening from her own point she doesn't promise it will be unbiased but that it will be more accurate than Simon's. Tori is half awake when the bus pulls into the station and is unaware of what stop they are at, she notices that both Chloe and Derek aren't on the bus and assumes that all of them have left her. She quietly wakes Simon up when she finds him still on the bus. When he wakes up he looks for Chloe which annoys Tori who feels that people are automatically more concerned about Chloe whether she deserves that concern or not. Simon asks where Derek and Chloe are and Tori tells him she doesn't know which is why she woke him. When they're getting off a man shoves Tori out of the way and berates her. Tori reveals through her narration that while she was In Lyle House she'd been confused, stressed and bored silly and that chasing after Simon was something to do. She says she's over Simon now that she knows she's not mentally ill and blames the medication or temporary self-esteem issues for her initial interest although she admits that at the time she could still look back and admit that Simon was cute. Once they're off the bus Tori suggests they might be at the snack bar or in the restrooms. Tori checks both and they're closed with no sign of Chloe or Derek. The bus leaves without them and they argue whether they should continue on to where Andrew lives or head back to look for Chloe and Derek. Tori thinks they should carry on as they don't know what stop Chloe and Derek got off at and knows Derek is smart enough to catch a bus where they were heading. Simon disagrees which Tori thinks is just because he doesn't want to agree with her. Tori's narration gives more background on her home life with her mother. Tori wonders if she more of a live-in experiment to her mother than a daughter but remarks that that sounds like self pity which she doesn't do. Her mother worked a lot at the lab while her dad ran a sporting goods business. Neither were around a lot so Tori had a live-in housekeeper caring for her until she was 12 when her mother expected her to start caring for her little sister. Lara is now 14 and reminds Tori of Chloe except Lara only pretends to be sweet and helpless. Tori was always treated as the bad kid, despite being popular, intelligent and on the honor roll. If Tori didn't do Lara's chores for her she was the one who'd be treated as if she was lazy. Tori and Simon make it to town, after making a crack at Simon being tired he tells her he still plans to go look for Derek as he's worried about what might have happened to him. Tori still thinks it's a waste of time, that Derek can look after himself and they should go to Andrew's like they planned. Simon is set on his plan though, Tori doesn't know how she'll get Andrew to let her in but doesn't want to complain and asks for directions. Simon tries to get the bus but the driver doesn't think he looks 15 so she won't sell him a ticket. Simon accuses Tori of sabotaging his attempts, she thinks he means by magic which she doesn't know how to do, but he claims she signaled or mouthed something to the driver behind his back. Tori tries to ask him about Witch magic but he doesn't respond. Tori mentions that she tried to hide her magical outbursts at Lyle House and was determined to take her medication, do therapy and 'get better' as she wasn't aware what she is. Tori thinks back to how they escaped, the fact that she beat her mothers magic and yet she still didn't acknowledge her and just told her to grow up and deal with it. Simon explains that Sorcerers and Witches use different kinds of magic but that they can, with difficulty, learn some of each others magic. Tori is happy to be powerful, not needing practice or incantations to cast spells but Simon warns that The Edison Group thought she was a failure because her magic is difficult to control and warns her to be careful. Together they continue on to Andrew's, with Simon not acknowledging that he's changed his mind and is coming along. When they reach Andrew's home, which takes 3 hours with Simon's terrible directions they find that no one is home and Simon notices that the place is untidy which is strange as Andrew is a neat freak. Simon decides they can't stay inside the house so they retreat to the pool house with some food and drink. Simon thinks they should look around which leads to an argument about how Tori doesn't think about others. Simon brings up how Tori left Chloe knocked out and gagged in a basement crawlspace during The Summoning and tells her why he doesn't like her. Tori doesn't offer much response other than the fact that she was medicated at the time, which only irritates Simon more. While Simon goes to check out their surroundings Tori dozes off and dreams of Chloe telling her she had to get off the bus because she thought Derek might be about to Change. Tori wakes up and is unsure of whether it was a dream or a memory. Tori's narration reveals that even she doesn't really understand why she did what she did to Chloe. She never considered she could have killed her when she knocked her out or when she left her gagged, when Derek suggested it she realised it was a nuts thing to do. She can't blame it on the stress or the medication, she didn't do it because she was angry. She wanted to teach Chloe a lesson and make her afraid of her. Her mother had always said she was insensitive and inconsiderate, while her dad said she was just impulsive, 'maybe a little thoughtless.' Tori hadn't believed that herself. She thinks if things get worse it will be everyone for themselves as it always is. After two hours Simon has yet to return to the pool house and Tori begins to freak out, considering that she might be being watched and that Simon could have been taken captive. She slips out to look for him but heads straight to the road back to town. She considers what it says about her that she assumed Simon had been taken captive and went straight to leave, turning around instead to actually look for him in the woods surrounding Andrew's home. Tori finds him sitting and thinking, Tori points out that it was inconsiderate to stay out there by himself without telling her, just to avoid her. When they hear a noise that turns out to be a deer Simon covers Tori to protect her. They decide to head back to the pool house where Tori falls asleep again. The story ends with Tori waking up to Derek and Chloe having caught up with them as they eventually did in The Awakening, with Tori deciding to stick with them as a team and try to make the best of things. Characters: * Tori Enright * Simon Bae * Derek Souza * Chloe Saunders * Lara Enright (mentioned) * Diane Enright (mentioned) Category:Darkest Powers Series Category:Darkest Powers Short Story